Today’s Washington Post held some good news. A few of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furniture pieces are now sold at Bloomingdales in Chevy Chase. What’s so great about that? Simply put, department stores run SALES.
Monthly Archives: August 2008
The Houses We Live In
Filed under Book Review, Look What I Found!
Last week I wrote about the exterior architecture of a house dictating the interior design plan. On an trip to Borders yesterday I found a great book about the styles of homes common in America.
The Houses We Live In, An Identification Guide to the History and Style of American Domestic Architecture, General Editor: Jeffery Howe, is filled with nearly 500 pages of tightly packed text and information, but could easily pass as a coffee table book.
The photos are rather amateurish, and in many cases down right amusing. It is obvious most were never even in the same room as a copy of Photoshop. Many photos are faded and no attempt has been made to take out cars, trucks, power lines, or bystanders. It is actually as much fun looking at the 20 some years of car body styles as the architecture styles. And the clothes on the people! Oh My! (Is that a ManPurse in the photo above?) The general editor admits in the Preface that he took most of the 600 photos himself in his twenty year attachment to American homes. The dust cover states,
[Howe's] longstanding interest in architecture is matched by his interest in photography and digital media; his digital archives of the images of American architecture were among the first on the Internet.
Anyone with even a passing interest in American History will enjoy owning a copy.
Staggered by Staggering
Filed under Accessorizing, Design Principles
OK, so once I posted yesterday’s entry, I found this web article from HGTV which basically contradicted everything I just said.
Another bit of evidence that truly, this is a subjective art. My mantra is you should decorate your home in a way that pleases YOU. So if stair stepping your pictures without a set of stairs makes you happy, than have at it! Still, I write this blog because my clients often do not know what looks aesthetically pleasing to them. It is my job to try to fish that out.
That being said, I do believe that there are certain strategies that create more harmonious, easy to live in spaces. Sometimes people do things that throw off harmony and once I correct it, they say, “WOW”. I try to do this without injecting my personal style. But once again, a caveat. Alex, from my business group, once told me that he liked my style. What? I was shocked to hear this because I try so hard to keep my personal taste under wraps. “No,” he said. “You definitely have a style. Restrained. Clean. Confident. I see it in all the examples you show.”
Hmmm. I guess I have to agree, and thus explain the dichotomy between my view and the HGTV article. I DO like clean. I prefer uncluttered spaces where the occupant can have a breath and inject a bit of self into the surroundings. I prefer one big piece to a mash of small. I think earth tones and complex colors are more livable than loud brights. I think styles do come and go with fashion–and hanging art in a staggered pattern is completely out of fashion–and I believe most people that hire a decorator are paying me to know what those fashions are and to give them an updated look in the confines of their personal tastes. And while I am confessing, I will admit that I think this is a difficult task that many other decorators are not up to. (I hope this doesn’t sound too ugly!)
Staggering
Filed under Accessorizing, Design Principles
Just got back from a quick weekend trip to Nags Head, NC. My husband’s family gathered together from four states and rented a big beach house. Because of work and childrens’ activities, we only had a short visit.
The beach house was spacious and well laid out. The decor…another matter. Every available wall had something hanging on it, often in pairs and ALWAYS STAGGERED. Seriously. Even the half bath off the kitchen had a pair of serving trays hanging over the toilet, one a little lower than the other. In case of a bathroom food service emergency, I suppose.
I am boggled by this method of picture hanging. Where and when did this get popular? I have read thousands of magazine articles and at least one hundred decorating books and I have only seen a pair hung like this ONCE. It was in a catalogue, I think WestElm. (I kept the picture but not the source. Sorry.)
And yet, in so many homes I see pictures hung in a stairstep pattern when there are no stairs. I always wonder if the homeowner feels off balanced, or if they just couldn’t get them hung straight and said, “The hell with it. Let’s just exaggerate the crookedness and act like we meant for them to hang like that…”
Anyone have an answer for me?
The Opening Ceremony
Filed under Friday Collage
My Top 10 Things
Filed under Look What I Found!
A conversation with some good friends around the pool inspired me to list those little things that make my life easier. I call them my Creature Comforts. Items that help me create my haven. Can I live without them? Of course, and I never forget how privileged I am to have them. I really do have an attitude of gratitude every day…
1. My Cuisinart Coffee on Demand Coffee Maker. Programmed for a few minutes before I need to get up, I have a nice hot cup of energy before a thought even enters my head.
2. The roomy upholstered chair in the Kitchen just for drinking said coffee.
3. My daily newspaper subscriptions. I know my hometown wasn’t THAT small, but getting the Washington Post on the driveway everyday still feels like a luxury.
4. My feather bed.
5. Thick, fluffy, white towels. And having a husband who remembers to throw them in the wash every now and then.
6. A rocker on a porch.
7. Foray mechanical pencils. Weird, I know.
8. Hallare Tealight Holder from Ikea. I have had it for like 6 years, and I love watching the straight line of flicker every bit as much as I did the day I got it. I think I spent 6 bucks on it.
9. My Trollbeads. It started as jewelry, and went from a collection to a community.
10. My Mirra desk chair. I can sit in front of the computer for hours. And sometimes I do…
Exterior Style Interior Style
Filed under Design Principles, Exterior and Grounds, Rooms
Does the architectural style of your home determine your design style?
Yes, to some degree. While some styles, like the ubiquitous late 20th century construction colonial can handle an eclectic approach, some look plain silly when the period is not addressed inside. It is hard to imagine Victorian wallpaper inside a Spanish Revival House. Or Midcentury furniture in a Tudor.
Thankfully, most people are drawn to a time period, and so their construction choice is often harmonious with their furnishings and accessories. The type of person drawn to a high rise condo feels complete with a minimal contemporary scene. Someone who buys an Arts and Crafts home probably appreciates rich woods.
Certainly some mixing can occur. Post-War Construction style homes, from the Rambler to the Split-Level, can handle Midcentury Modern as easily as Country. A Cape Cod need not have Colonial furnishings. The trick is to recognize and pay homage to the period in which the style was created, and move forward into today by added items that are personally meaningful.
Macy’s and The Jetsons
Filed under Design Styles
Browsing through the Sunday Circulars, my brain flips over adjectives as I flip the pages. “Good, Cluttered, Clean, Bright, Boring, Overdone, Jetsons…” Stop. Jetsons?
That was my first reaction to this grouping for sale this week at Macy’s.
Strange thing, as I went back to it, the name of the grouping is Astro. Wasn’t that the Jetson’s dog?
Perhaps my brain read the fine print and and popped an image of the cartoon family instead of a verbal recognition of the word. I don’t know. The Futuristic Pop colors do suggest their stilted home in the sky. I couldn’t find anything online of their home so I am relying on memory here. This is all I got…
What Style IS This?
Filed under Design Styles, Trend Spotting
There is definitely a new design style lurking out there.
I think I can describe it, but I haven’t seen a name for it yet. (If you have, please, comment.) Maybe I should call it Shabby Chic 2.0. Or Early Twenty-first Century Southern. Or Minimal Crafty. I don’t know.
I see a lot of it showcased in two popular design blogs, Décor8 and Design Sponge. The style is very light and girlish, because pastels are so dominate. Most rooms are painted white, and anything adorning the walls is tiny. I see a lot of needlepoint or illustrations that are very simple line drawings. I called it Shabby Chic 2.0 because of the predominance of antiques, although many are decidedly mid century, and for the loose upholstery and slipcovers.
Vast amounts of white space and kitschy little craft items seem to be representative of this style. Sophisticated versions are around as well. Domino Magazine showcased Katie Ukrop’s home in Richmond.
And today on Decor8, Emma Cassi’s home is featured.
About a zillion artists are selling this style on Etsy.
Garden Stools
Filed under Friday Collage
Stools from Faraway Gardens from Wisteria, Palmer Stool from Z Gallerie, Decorative Porcelain Garden Stool from William Sonoma Home, Metallic Garden Seat from Horchow, Antiqued Indigo Sphere and Stool from World Market, Tama Carved Stool from Pier 1, Ceramic Garden Accent Table from Pottery Barn, Wooden Garden Seat from Ballard Designs, Floral Medallion Garden Stool from Gump’s